“A live-looping frenzy", classically-trained singer-songwriter Sophia Exiner, also known as Phia, makes music that is abound with luscious layers of harmonies, vocal percussion and vivid pop sensibilities.

She has honed her remarkable live show over hundreds of performances across Europe, from bars in Southern Italy, to fisherman’s villages in Iceland and major music festivals such as Melt Festival, Berlin Festival and Fusion Festival in Germany. She has also performed on national television in Australia (Spicks & Specks, 2014) and Germany (TV Noir). In 2014 she was invited by Rolling Stone Magazine (Germany) to record a David Bowie cover for a special CD compilation.

Her newest release is The Woman Who Counted The Stars EP, described as “a cosmic experience buzzing with sonic energy” (Happy Mag) and "Flowing from [...] minimal loops to stadium-scaled grandeur” by Rolling Stone Magazine (Australia).

The new EP encapsulates Phia’s ferocious creativity, with the five tracks brimming with layers of glitter and grit, heralding the arrival of a bold new sound for the Melbourne-born singer- songwriter. Pulsing, distorted drums and intergalactic juno synths collide with fuzz guitar and vintage casio keyboards, as Phia’s longtime production collaborator Josh The Cat realises a sonic vision that manages to be both lush, raw, and emotionally affecting. Phia’s effortlessly charismatic, crystal-clear vocal soars

The Woman Who Counted the Stars EP is a rapid fire follow up to her debut album The Ocean of Everything, which was recorded in her then-home of Berlin with the aid of a Musicboard Berlin stipendium, awarded to Berlin residents making integral contributions to the Berlin Music scene.

The album, released in August 2016, features the kalimba, an instrument she has made her own through her unique use of it through effect pedals and loops. Recorded in Berlin at the famous Funkhaus studios and mixed in New York, U.S by Eli Crews (Tune-Yards, Deerhoof, Dear Reader) with the aid of a successful crowdfunding campaign, Double J hailed the album as “bright, catchy as hell pop”, with Dom Alessio (Triple J) declaring it “a bundle of joy”.

Earlier this year Phia was a co-recipient of an Australian Council grant along with fellow singer-songwriter Georgia Fields. They embarked on a 20+ national Sky & Sea tour, lending their distinctive sound to each other’s material in a one-off, fully-collaborative live show, accompanying one another on everything from kalimba to casio, electric guitar to tambourine.

This tour was one of three for the indefatigable artist, after the Sky & Sea tour, Phia left for Europe, where she played a whirlwind 18 shows around Germany, the UK and Austria in support of her new EP, and her final tour for the year sees her deliver her unique live-looping show to 5 of Australia’s capital cities.